Car insurance cancelled because I wasn’t the registered keeper.

KeysMcK

I’m looking for some advice on behalf of my neighbour who has just had a call from his insurer to say they’ve cancelled his policy as the car isn’t registered in his name. 

He’s a young lad and it was an honest mistake. He was given the car, an old Renault Clio, by his boss so he could get to work and back (painter), and has had the car for well over a year now. The car was given to him but the log book was never signed over. It’s his first car so it’s not something he paid much mind to. 

Last year he insured it with admiral, all went well, renewal came up. With his renewal he went for a new company. After a few weeks they’ve been in touch to say the cars registration doesn’t match his policy. It turns out they’re right, it does not. 

He got in touch with his boss who has immediately done the paperwork to transfer the log book into his name, but the damage is done. They wouldn’t offer him the option of changing the policy. He now has a cancellation on his record that will stick to him for life, and he’ll have to declare on his insurance.

Do you think it’s worth him trying again with his current provider, hopefully finding a more sympathetic ear, or would the wrong registered keeper always be grounds for cancellation?

I’ve always thought cancellation was for cases of real fraud or serious misrepresentation such as undeclared accidents or points, or listing someone else as a named driver. He’s done everyone else right, just one small admin error.

Any advice you could share for the lad would be appreciated! 

Thanks in advance! 

HampshireH

A vehicle can be insured by someone without them being the registered keeper as long as they don't state they are 

Did they declare themselves as the owner or keeper? Presumably that's the bit he got wrong.

It's definitely worth him speaking the the insurar a bit more. A cancellation is going to make things difficult for him.

DullGreyGuy

HampshireH said:

Did they declare themselves as the owner or keeper? Presumably that's the bit he got wrong.

There is only a registry of keepers and so that must be the one they made the false declaration on given the insurer found out. They may have also falsely declared the owner.

Step 1 - do a quote with this company via the same channel as they bought but with dummy details... something close to the real but not actually the real. Correctly declare the owner and keeper when doing this. This will give you a good idea as to if they would have insured him had he made true declaration however you do need to be careful if they are a broker or intermediary rather than insurer as both parts have to be the same. 

CIDRA allows insurers to cancel a policy if an insured intentionally or recklessly makes false declaration. Nothing else really matters. If its an accidental or careless false declaration then they can only cancel the policy were they wouldnt have insured the policy had the correct details been presented.

Step 2 - speak to the seller... if they would have insured him with the correct information then it's about justifying why it was a careless mistake rather than a reckless/intentional one. If they wouldnt have insured him with the right information you have little hope but there is no harm in a punt